"That on the 1st day of January, A.D.
1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part
of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the
United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free..."

The 80th Indiana was formed in response to President Abraham Lincoln's July 1,
1862, call for 300,000 more men to volunteer for the Union Army in order
to help the Federal government win the American Civil War. The table below contains information about the 80th's
first full year of service.

The column on the left contains links that lead to day-by-day overviews by month.
The center column contains overviews of what the 80th was doing and where it was
located in 1863. The column on the right features quotes from primary and
secondary sources, which are intended to give insights into what the times, and the
soldiers' lives, were like. These quotes have been entered on the date they
were written or published (unless otherwise noted) and without changing the original
grammar or spelling. Abbreviations used on this page include: Apr.=April;
C.S.A.=Confederate
States of America; Gen.=General; Ind.=Indiana; Inf.=Infantry; Ky.=Kentucky;
Pvt.=Private; Regt.=Regiment; Tenn.=Tennessee; U.S.=United States; and
Vol.=Volunteer.

This is the first comprehensive history ever written about the 80th
Indiana. It is being assembled using data from many sources, and is very much a work in progress.
Contributions are both encouraged and welcomed. All
who do so will be credited on the list of Modern
80th Indiana Volunteers on this website. For details, visit the
Help
Needed section of this site. Together this history can grow
to be a rich tribute to the men of the 80th Indiana, who helped preserve
the United States of America and end slavery within it.

Morgan's Raid. Pursuit of C.S.A. Gen. John
Hunt Morgan's cavalry to the Cumberland River, followed
by time at a convalescence camp at Elizabethtown, Ky. Regiment losing almost 2 men per day
due to death, discharge, resignation, and desertion.

"$50 Reward. RAN AWAY FROM JAMES
THORNBERRY of Jefferson County, TWO NEGRO MEN -- one named Cornelius, 25 years
old, about 5 feet 10 inches high, weighs about 160 pounds, very black... the
other named Bill Bachelor, a bright mulatto, about 24 years old, 5 feet 9 or
10 inches high, of pleasant countenance, weighs about 150 pounds...I will give
$50 for both, or $25 for either if delivered to me or put in the Louisville
jail. --Louisville
Journal newspaper, Louisville, Ky., seeking runaway
slaves

Guard Duty. Camped at
Elizabethtown, Ky., guarding the Louisville & Nashville Railroad until late
in month when transferred to Munfordville, Ky.

"There is a great meny deserters out of
our reagment. Ther was four out of our company in four days last
week and there is a great many more sayes they is a going as soon as
they get their pay...they don't think any disgreise to disurt under
the present procklmetion..."--Pvt. Daniel McDonald Co. E, 80th
Ind., letter to his wife about the Emancipation Proclamation

Guard Duty. Camped at Woodsonville, just
outside Munfordville, Ky.,
guarding the Louisville & Nashville Railroad bridge over the Green River.
Transferred to Elizabethtown, Ky., around mid-month before returning to
Woodsonville at end of month.

"If you chance to see any of the 'Copperhead stripe' who desire to
know what we think of their 'Peace Convention' and 'Compromise
Resolutions,' please tell them we would rather meet them with arms in their
hands in the rebel ranks, than to hear of their traitorous and cowardly efforts
to stab us in the back."
--portion of an unsigned letter dated Mar. 23, 1863, from a Private in the 80th
Ind., Evansville Journal newspaper, Evansville, Ind.

Guard Duty. Camped at Woodsonville, Ky.,
guarding the Louisville & Nashville Railroad bridge over the Green River for most of the month, then to Glasgow,
Ky.

"By the dispensation of an all-wise Providence,
our worthy brother officers [2nd Lieut.]James F. Ruark[of Co.
H], [2nd Lieut.]Alexander[W.]Anderson[of Co. K] and most
recently Capt.Thomas[J.]Brooks[of Co. B] were removed
from us from the effects of wounds received while gallantly discharging their
duty on the battlefield of Perryville."--from a Resolution
by 80th officers, in the Princeton Clarion newspaper, Princeton, Ind.,
Apr. 1, '63.

Repulse of Morgan. Present at attack
by Morgan's Scouts near Marrowbone, Ky., at beginning of month, followed by 1
week forced march in pursuit of Morgan's forces. Guard duty at Cave City, Ky., then at Glasgow,
Ky., for remainder of month.

"Kentuckians! I
come to liberate you from the despotism of a tyrannical faction and
to rescue my native State from the hand of your oppressors.
Everywhere the cowardly foe has fled from my avenging arms."--C.S.A. Gen. John Hunt Morgan,
appeal published during his July, 1863 raid into Ky.

Burnside's East Tennessee Campaign.
Guard duty at Glasgow, Ky., till 8th. Took railroad train to Lebannon, Ky.,
and marched to New
Market, Ky., where joined Army of the Ohio commanded by U.S.A. Gen. Ambrose
Burnside. Marched to Columbia, Ky., and over Cumberland Mountains to
Sweetwater, Jamestown, and Montgomery in East Tenn.

"I do as much for East Tennessee as
I would, or could, if my own family were in Knoxville."--President Abraham Lincoln, 1863 letter
to a Union delegation from East Tenn.

Burnside's
East Tennessee Campaign. Passed through Kingston, Tenn. Camped at Loudon, Tenn.
for most of month, except for quick march through Knoxville to Strawberry
Plains, Tenn., and back to Loudon.

"...it is reported on good authority that they
have evacuated Loudon and Knoxville, on the Tennessee and Virginia rail road,
and are on retreat towards Atlanta, Georgia. This indicates the entire
abandonment of Tennessee by the Rebels, of which the fall of North Carolina will
be the immediate result, and we may soon look for the final bursting of the
great secession bubble, the mammoth humbug of the nineteenth century."--Capt. Joseph P. Glezen Co. H,
diary

East
Tennessee. Camped at Loudon, Tenn. Much cavalry skirmishing
nearby, but 80th not involved in fighting.

"The Chattanooga Rebel, before it was compelled to
migrate, speaking of the perils of its situation, said: "The mountains
of East Tennessee--to use the illustration of one of our ablest Generals--form a
breastplate to the confederacy. Pass them and the probe of the enemy at
once reaches the guts of the South. Therefore is East Tennessee to be
defended at all hazards.""
--Evansville Gazette newspaper, Oct. 3, '63, Evansville, Ind., about a
statement in the Chattanooga Rebel newspaper before it ceased publication
when Union troops captured Chattanooga, Tenn.

Fighting Wheeler's
Cavalry. Camped near Loudon, Tenn., till the 9th. Relocated to Kingston, Tenn.,
for rest of month. Involved in action at Kingston on Nov. 24.
Rations becoming very scarce.

"We are put to great straights to get anything
to eat...we consider ourselves
very fortunate if we can have bread and meat both the same day. And what
is worse than all is, we are now entirely out of salt."--Capt.
Joseph P. Glezen Co. H, diary